LOL! Yea, last time I had one of those; they left the radiator cap off. A short time later on the interstate the temp/coolant light came on. Needles to say, it lost most of the coolant and cracked the plastic intake(5.7 vortec). They covered it-but it wasnt "mess free".

This is the exact reason why I do my own routine maintenance; some people's kids

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2014 Impala LS (non-eco)-Build date 12/13/2013 Mine 3/15/2014"I don't care what you think about me; I don't think about you at all"

This is the exact reason why I do my own routine maintenance; some people's kids

I had my oil changed a long time ago at a fast lube place and they only installed the filter a coulpe threads but when I left the fast lube place I did'nt know that and the guy in the pit did'nt know it either---duh. So on my way back to work I smelled oil and did'nt think much of it after all they just changed the oil and maybe some got on the exhaust pipe. By the time I got to work I was worried it was stinking real bad and smoking, I thought maybe the filter or drain plug fell off but further investigation proved a very loose filter. They gave me a new filter and filled up my oil and said we are sorry for that, please come back..........Ya ok!

So ......my point was that a magnetic oil drain plug would pick up iron particles!

Potentially...but there are a lot of what ifs. The magnet at the bottom of a drain pan is probably good for larger pieces that settle out and get stuck to it. I don't know if a magnet would help as such in a UOA. People have magnets on their plugs and a cap on the end of their filter and it doesn't make a difference...they still get iron in their UOA. More or less than if they didn't have them I don't know.

about to do my first change.....has anyone tried to simply use an oil extractor?

It is my understanding that it *isnt* possible to remove the oil from these engines through the dipstick hole. There is enough of a bend at some point so that one is unable to insert the tube far enough down to be able to pull out the oil.

Dont knock it. When it works it is great as there is little or no mess and no need to go under the car to remove the drain bolt. I just dont think it will work in this application

Yes, absolutely. It's widely used in the Euro world - BMWs, MBs, and Audis, and done so with great success - very simple and very mess free. It would avoid the "dripping onto the motor mount" issue for Acadias. I was checking here to see if the "routing" would be prohibitive, which, it looks like it is.

It can't take that long to suck out the oil, but still have climb under the car to unscrew the filter with maybe less oil mess down your arm or on your clothes or on drop cloth. I wonder if you can pump out the oil from canister into milk jug. But if this pump with tube is unable to reach all the way down to the pan, than would be useless. Neat idea, I guess. Principle looks good!

It can't take that long to suck out the oil, but still have climb under the car to unscrew the filter with maybe less oil mess down your arm or on your clothes or on drop cloth. I wonder if you can pump out the oil from canister into milk jug. But if this pump with tube is unable to reach all the way down to the pan, than would be useless. Neat idea, I guess. Principle looks good!

FWIW; I can remove and install a filter from the top

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2014 Impala LS (non-eco)-Build date 12/13/2013 Mine 3/15/2014"I don't care what you think about me; I don't think about you at all"